Private Worlds

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.  And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  We write this to make our joy complete” 1 John 1:3-4.

For years I have talked about my grandchildren to my sisters.  I have been anxious for them to be able to understand the joy and love that this relationship brings.  They have watched it from afar and understood the experience from a limited perspective.  They have been happy and joyful for me, but one of them now understands complete joy since she has become a grandmother.  My other sister will enter into this community of fellowship in the near future I am sure.  It is one thing to be told about something exciting, while it is another thing to actually experience it.  We can have joy for another while they are explaining an encounter or event, but the completion of our fellowship with that person is when we also experience the same thing.  There is great joy and comfort in sharing the same experience.

This is the concept of which John is communicating. He had seen, heard and touched Jesus.  He had walked and talked with Jesus, who had direct fellowship with the God the Father.  Through John’s fellowship with Christ, he was the recipient of fellowship with God.  Just as I want that grandparent experience for my sisters, John wanted that fellowship with Christ for others.  John realized that we as believers are called to community, not isolation.  We have a responsibility to invite everyone into a living relationship with Christ.  ‘We forget that the Christian life is about the fellowship with a living Person, Jesus.  When He’s active in our lives and in the lives of others we’ll have fellowship which will lead to joy…When Jesus is in our midst and we’re joined together in Him and with one another, the common bond of our Savior ignites heart-bursting joy…if we’re communing with the Lord on a regular basis, we won’t be able to help our desire to invite others into the community …lets push out of our private worlds and embrace the very gift John gives us as his reason for writing:  the glory of fellowship’ What Love Is, Kelly Minter, p.24-25.

As we enter into this glorious Christmas season, let us remember to reach out to all and extend the gift of our fellowship in Christ.